DETROIT (11/7/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team hits the road for its first contest away from Calihan Hall in 2019-20, visiting No. 17/21-ranked Michigan State on Friday for a 7 p.m. ET game from the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The game is slated to be streamed live via Big Ten Network Plus.

The Titans (0-1) are coming off a setback in their season opener at home against Loyola Chicago on Tuesday. Eight Detroit Mercy players made their debuts in the red, white and blue with all of them scoring points. Detroit Mercy was led in scoring by senior Zoey Oatis, who had a team-high 17 points.

The game against Michigan State is the start of four-straight away from Detroit. Detroit Mercy opens the season with six of eight on the road, overall.

On The Court:

• Senior guard/forward Zoey Oatis is the team's top returning scorer at 8.1 points per game; She also ranked fourth in the Horizon League in steals per game (1.8), totaling 49 thefts last season. She led the squad in the 2019-20 season opener, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Oatis reached 400 career points in the game.
• The Titans are a relatively young team with 10 underclassmen (five freshmen, five sophomores) and just three upperclassmen.
• Detroit Mercy is 7-21 all-time against Michigan State. It's the third meeting between the two programs in the past five seasons and first in East Lansing since 2015.
• The red, white and blue were picked to finish ninth in the 2019-20 Horizon League Preseason Poll.
• Head coach Bernard Scott is in his fifth season at the helm of the Titan women's basketball program.

Titan Debuts:

• Freshman guard Markyia McCormick scored eight points in her debut which was the most for a Titan freshmen in their first college game since Darianne Seward in 2014-15.
• Junior guard Aly Reiff, a transfer from Xavier, had seven points and three steals, sinking her only shot from deep, in her first Titan appearance.
• Maxine Moore, a sophomore transfer from Western Michigan, pulled down a team-high nine boards in her debut, starting for the Titans.
• Freshman forward Bridgid Fox had six points and two steals in her debut while classmate Annika Corcoran started and had four points and three assists against no turnovers.
• Freshman guard Sylare Starks also started and finished with three points, while sophomore forward Nicole Johanson pulled down four boards and rookie guard Abbie McDowell had three points.

Last Time Out
Detroit Mercy opened the 2019-20 season Tuesday, dropping an 89-60 game against visiting Loyola in a battle of Jesuit programs. It was the home opener as well from Calihan Hall. Senior wing Zoey Oatis had a team-high 17 points for the Titans and every single player that played for the red, white and blue scored.

Five freshmen made their collegiate debuts in the contest and eight players overall made their first Titan appearances. Freshman guard Markyia McCormick led all newcomers with eight points, while transfer forward Maxine Moore had a team-high nine boards. McCormick and freshman guard Annika Corcoran each had three assists and freshman forward Bridgid Fox added six points and two steals for the Titans. The red, white and blue had eight steals in the game and had just 11 turnovers.

Tough Non-Conference
Detroit Mercy has another strong non-conference schedule in 2019-20 with the Titans playing five tournament squads and four teams that had better than 20 victories a season ago. A look at the seven non-league opponents that finished with a better-than .500 record in 2018-19:

        Opponent -- 2018-19 Record
        Michigan State (Big Ten, Away) -- 21-12
        Butler (Big East, Away) -- 23-10
        George Mason (A-10, Away) -- 16-14
        Akron (MAC, Home) -- 16-15
        Sacred Heart (NEC, Neutral) -- 19-13
        Tennessee Tech (OVC, Neutral) -- 22-11
        Toledo (MAC, Home) -- 21-12

Defensive Front
The Titans finished the 2018-19 campaign fourth in the Horizon League in steals with 232, which was the most since the 2010-11 season, when Detroit Mercy had 236 thefts. Zoey Oatis was fourth in the Horizon League in steals per game (1.8), finishing with a career-best 49 steals. The red, white and blue finished with 10 or more steals in a contest 10 different times in 2018-19. The Titans also held opponents under 60 points 10 times last season.

        Team (200+ steals in past 10 seasons)
        236 -- 2010-11
        232 -- 2018-19 (highest under coach Scott)
        219 -- 2009-10
        218 -- 2011-12
        214 -- 2014-15
        201 -- 2012-13

        Individual (45+ steals in past 10 seasons)
        54 -- Yar Shayok (2009-10)
        54 -- Jalesa Jones (2009-10)
        51 -- Darianne Seward (2014-15)
        49 -- Zoey Oatis (2018-19)
        46 -- Rosanna Reynolds (2016-17)
        46 -- Yar Shayok (2010-11)

Scouting Michigan State:

• The Spartans won in their season opener Tuesday night at home, topping Eastern Michigan, 85-50, from the Breslin Center. MSU used a big second half, scoring 54 points after the halftime break in the victory over the Eagles.
• Four Spartans were in double figures in the opener, led by Nia Clouden, who hit six 3-pointers and had 23 points. Alyza Winston added 14 points, while Taryn McCutcheon and Tory Ozment each had 10 points. Shay Colley led the team with eight rebounds.
• Michigan State reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago, topping Central Michigan in an 88-87 thriller in the opening round before falling to the eventual champion, Notre Dame.
• Head coach Suzy Merchat is in her 13th season as head coach and has 266 victories with the Spartans.

Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the road next week for a pair of contests, visiting Butler on Wednesday, Nov. 13 in Indianapolis before heading out east for a road clash with George Mason in Fairfax, Va. on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Titans' next home game is the following Saturday, hosting Akron in a noon contest from Calihan Hall.